


Lemme Fix You

by ijustwantahugfromleetaeyong



Series: I'm Broken (Lemme Fix You) [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Dark Past, Developing Friendships, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Fluff, Friendship, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Insecure Lee Taeyong, Jaehyun Just Wants to See His Face, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun is Whipped, M/M, Past Lives, Return, Reunions, Secrets, Self-Acceptance, Shy Lee Taeyong, Soft Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Soft Lee Taeyong, Taeyong Finally Opens Up, Taeyong Hides From The World, Taeyong Loves Christmas, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Winter Wonderland, festive, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:02:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29724579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijustwantahugfromleetaeyong/pseuds/ijustwantahugfromleetaeyong
Summary: Jaehyun is in town for Christmas, looking out for that familiar pair of eyes he knows he has to see again. Taeyong is willing to put everything he's ever practiced on the line, and open himself up to Jaehyun. He's not going to run away this time.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Series: I'm Broken (Lemme Fix You) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031232
Kudos: 33





	Lemme Fix You

Jaehyun hasn’t stopped thinking about Taeyong since he ran away.

Snow began settling flake by flake as Jaehyun walked further into the city, neon lights and Christmas decorations lighting up the city with a festive air. Jaehyun exhales, his breath swirling upwards into the cold winter sky.

It’s been exactly a year since he last saw Taeyong.

He still hasn’t wrapped his head around what spooked Taeyong so badly the last - and only, he reasons - time that they spoke. It concerned him more than it annoyed him, how fervently he had run away.

Jaehyun had considered running after him, but decided it wasn’t the best course of action. He had left for America the next day and had been thinking about Taeyong ever since.

It was by sheer luck that he managed to convince his friends to fly out to London for Christmas again, seeing as they had been so set on going to Paris all year. Jaehyun got his way after a series of very drunk bets, and they had landed in London yesterday. 

His friends had accepted their fate on the plane, but had told Jaehyun explicitly that they were going to abandon him to do their own thing.

Jaehyun was alright with that.

He had been strolling through the city for a while now, eyes peeled for that enchanting boy. It seemed a little unrealistic, even to him, that in the whole of London he could just turn a corner, and Taeyong would pop out from behind a bin or something.

But hey, if anything he was an optimist. 

Saying that, however, his hope was quickly dwindling the longer he spent searching, and he was just about to give in when he saw it. 

Set in blue and white painted oak, and surrounded with Christmas decorations, were the words "Winter Wonderland".

As Jaehyun stepped under the sign, he couldn't deny the warm, contented feeling that could only be described as Christmas spirit running through him. 

He could only hope that Taeyong was a creature of habit. 

Jaehyun padded past endless pretty stalls and warm snack vans and neon lights pointing the way to every ride imaginable. He was taking in the spirit of Christmas, but at the same time, the only thing his eyes were searching for as they roamed the milling crowds was that familiar pair of eyes.

Jaehyun was passing the ice rink with a bag of warm donuts in one hand and a mulled wine in the other, when he saw it. 

A painted, yellow sign, hung above a petite stall tucked away between an archery stand and a drinks counter, its back wall adorned with shelves upon shelves of rubber ducks wearing Christmas hats. A smile slowly crept onto his face as memories flooded into his mind, and he began to walk towards the stall when he collided with something, or rather - someone - who sent him hurtling to the floor. He had a loud gasp and realised that the lid of his wine had come loose.

The first thing he saw as he tried to process what had happened and why he was on the floor with donuts rolling around him was a pair of snow boots, with red wine dripping onto them at a rapid speed. The next, was a pastel blue coat - or, what was left of it - with a dark, seeping stain across the front. And then-

“Jaehyun??”

“Taeyong…”

Those eyes. An iridescent blue, sparkling in the bitter air, wide with surprise and belonging to that wonderful boy, with his smooth, snowy skin and that scar underneath one of his eyes which he touched absentmindedly when distracted. It was him.

Lee Taeyong, warm and wonderful and absolutely drenched in mulled wine-

Oh, shit.

Jaehyun clambered to his feet so fast, you’d think there was a prize for whoever could get off the floor the quickest. He clasped Taeyong’s hand in his own, “Taeyong.” He repeated, unsure of what to say.

“My- my coat…” He mumbled, frowning slightly. 

Jaehyun tugged on his hand, not letting go until they were some ways down the busy, festive London streets some time later, standing under a harsh, neon sign that read ‘Launderette’. Without thinking twice, Jaehyun pulled him inside.

“I’m so sorry Taeyong,” Jaehyun began as he chewed on his fingernails, Taeyong expertly setting a wash and dry cycle for his coat because Jaehyun didn’t have the first clue about how to do it, despite it being his idea to drag him here, “I’m so sorry, I’m so… ugh, stupid!”

“Jaehyun it’s fine, I have plenty of coats.”

“No, that’s not-” Jaehyun stopped himself, aware of the way Taeyong was now looking at him, an eyebrow piqued in interest, eyes determined and unwavering. Jaehyun absently noticed that Taeyong’s hair was pink now.

It used to be blonde, he remembered.

Jaehyun composed himself, “I’m sorry about your coat, yeah, that was me being clumsy and not looking where I was going, you know how it is,” Jaehyun rubbed the back of his sheepishly, cursing himself as he felt his cheeks heat up, “But-”

“But?” Taeyong cut in. He stayed still, but he didn’t look angry. His eyes held this eternal softness that Jaehyun wanted to treasure for the rest of his life.

“I’m sorry about… what happened. Last Christmas. I just know that I messed up, somehow, there were so many things I could have done differently - hell, maybe I should have gone after you. But I knew I couldn’t leave things the way I did.. Not without trying to understand, or make it right. However I can.” Jaehyun blurted, trying his best not to look into Taeyong’s eyes. 

Wordlessly, Taeyong nodded, sitting on the bench in the middle of the empty Launderette. He sat still for a moment, deep in thought, before looking up at Jaehyun with those soft, wide eyes and patting the spot next to him.

Without hesitating, Jaehyun took it, and Taeyong turned to him, lip between his teeth.

“Jaehyun, I owe you an explanation…. Running off that day was stupid and kind of thoughtless of me. I like you, Jaehyun, I really do and I’m glad you came back. Not everyone does.” Taeyong took a deep breath, “It happened when I was eight. My parents were driving home from our grandparents, and I was in the back of the car. It was late. The roads were icy.”

The sound of the washing machine whirring in the background, and the muffled conversations seeping through the windows and walls of the Laundrette as Jaehyun watched Taeyong’s shoulder’s slump ever so slightly, his eyes wide and sad with a distant, foreign look in them. He reached forward, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Taeyong’s ear.

Taeyong looked up at Jaehyun, eyes misty, “The car came out of nowhere. They died instantly, my mom and dad.”

“Taeyong, I- God, I’m so sorry.”

Taeyong nodded, breathing in deeply and screwing his eyes shut. Jaehyun placed a comforting hand on his knee, interlacing his fingers with Taeyong’s. When the boy opened his eyes, he nodded silently, as if to himself, and with a shaky hand reached up to his ear. Gently and carefully, Taeyong pulled the string away from his ear, letting the mask he was wearing drop from his face and float to the ground like an autumn leaf. He turned to Jaehyun, and his breath got caught up in his throat.

Stretching from Taeyong’s cheekbone to the centre of his mouth and from there up to his left nostril and down to his chin was a dark, jagged scar. Taeyong pursed his lips, and Jaehyun’s eyes traced the angry red lines - the scarred cuts were healed, but they were too prominent to fade away it seems.

And just like that, everything made sense. Why Taeyong ran from him… it was because of this fragile part of him that he could never find the will to show or to share. The scars of his past he wore across his face that he refused to let the world see.

“When the impact happened, the windows cracked and splintered, glass flew everywhere. A good amount of it got wedged in my mouth. I was in hospital for months and months. They saved me, but…” Taeyong, almost without thinking about it it seemed, raised a shaky hand and traced a finger around the wound, “This is permanent. I never showed my face in public since then. Not to anyone…. Until now.” 

A tear slipped down Jaehyun’s cheek and he leaned forward, “Can I…?” Taeyong nodded, and Jaehyun carefully ran the pad of his finger along each ridge, bump and curve. The scar felt rough and old.

“You look so beautiful.”

“What did you just say?”

“You’re beautiful, Taeyong.”

Taeyong stared at him incredulously, blinking a few times as he tried to process what Jaehyun had just said. “I didn’t think I’d need to emphasise this Jaehyun, but… look at me. I’m a freak! This scar it- it makes me look-”

“Can I kiss you?”

“So weird and no one has ever- what!?”

Jaehyun placed the pad of his thumb on Taeyong’s lips, watching as the boy trembled as tears began to well in his eyes. “Can I… kiss you?”

Taeyong exhaled shakily, “Yes.”

A light in the launderette ceiling flickered as Jaehyun leaned in, capturing Taeyong’s lips and holding tightly on to his arm, as though if he let go the boy would crumble away and disappear through the cracks in the floor. Jaehyun felt the ground fall away beneath him, his breath dissipating by the second, as Taeyong slowly gave in and kissed him back.

Jaehyun pulled away after a few moments, breathless and teary-eyed as he watched Taeyong lean against his shoulder.

“Jaehyun.”

“Taeyong?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

Taeyong gazed up at him, a small smile erupting on his beautiful face, “For seeing that I’m broken and still wanting me.”

Jaehyun smiled back, the distant sound of the washing machine clicking faded into the background, “I’ll always be here for you. You can let me fix you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!! 
> 
> Thank you for waiting so patiently for part 2 of this series : I'm Broken (Lemme Fix You) is now complete!
> 
> Kudos, comments, subs and anon reads are all greatly appreciated!
> 
> Twitter : @rosietyongf


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